A few weeks ago we mentioned that Patrick Stewart and Colm Meaney were nominated for the U.K.'s 2007 Theatregoers' Choice Awards at WhatsOnStage.com, a ballot open to the public. No doubt thanks in part to your help, the TNG/DS9 stars triumphed in their respective categories.

Stewart won "Best Solo Performance" with a whopping 53.4 percent of the vote, out of six contenders, for his one-man revival of "A Christmas Carol" in December 2005 at London's Albery theatre. Meaney had 33 percent of the vote, out of six, in "Best Supporting Actor in a Play" for his performance in "A Moon for the Misbegotten" at the Old Vic.

Another DS9 alum, Frank Langella ("Minister Jaro Essa"), was nominated for "Best Actor in a Play" for portraying Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon," but he lost to Meaney's "Misbegotten" co-star Kevin Spacey. More than 12,000 votes were cast in the competition.

"The most important aspect of this award for me is that it has come from theatregoers — people who love the drama and love entertainment and take the trouble to go out and see it, particularly when this show was on in the West End because it was during an especially cold and bleak winter, which I guess was highly appropriate for 'A Christmas Carol,'" Stewart said in a speech posted on the site. "So to get an acknowledgement from one's audience is the best accolade of all. I have an entire Christmas Carol wall in my office, which includes a signed letter from Charles Dickens, and this award will be joining it." (If you voted for him and didn't attend the play — well, you're obligated for next time.)

Meaney's acceptance statement was, "It is lovely to receive an award that's given by audiences — as the only criteria they have is their experience at the theatre and it's nice to know that one has connected to the audience — so thank you very much!"

For complete information, visit WhatsOnStage.com, click on "Theatregoers' Choice Awards 2007," then peruse the links in the top menu, such as "Your Winners," "Photo Gallery" and "Winners' Speeches." The Photo Gallery includes several pictures of Stewart showing off his award.

Meaney and Langella are still vying for the Laurence Olivier Award, which is the most prestigious honor in U.K. theatre. Those winners will be announced Sunday, February 18. Look for Meaney and Langella each to bring their plays to New York next month. Stewart will start up "The Tempest" at the Novello in London next week.

UPDATE 02.19.07: Jim Norton, who played "Albert Einstein" in "The Nth Degree" and "Descent, Part I," won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role, defeating Meaney. Norton played a blind man in "The Seafarer." Langella lost his Olivier category, Best Actor. WhatsOnStage.com has more info and photos.

Abrams Collaborating with Stephen King

The Hollywood Reporter revealed this week that J.J. Abrams — whose many roles in Hollywood include producer of Paramount's "Star Trek XI" project — is in talks with prolific author Stephen King to bring his "Dark Tower" book series to the screen. How big a screen, the article points out, is still uncertain, as there are advantages to making it either as a movie or as a television series. Abrams has a film deal with Paramount and a TV deal with Warner Bros., but the project is not yet set up at either company.

The Reporter states, "It is unclear whether Abrams ... would take on the project solely as a producer or whether he would direct as well" — language familiar to those of us waiting for a similar decision regarding "Trek XI." See the full article at this HollywoodReporter.com link.

Did You Catch Abrams on Stephen Colbert?

Speaking of Abrams, the wunderkind producer did a phone-in bit Thursday night on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, and the "Trek" movie was mentioned. Host Stephen Colbert opened his show talking about the fact that he made the "prayer list" from a Christian organization rallying followers to pray for specific media and culture leaders each day. Colbert wanted to know what to expect from having tens of thousands of people praying for him in one day, so he contacted the first of the 365 names on the list, J.J. Abrams — because the list is in alphabetical order.

With a graphic reading "On the phone: J.J. Abrams" but with a picture of Jimmie Walker ("J.J. Evans" from Good Times), Colbert asked Abrams if he experienced any miracles on his prayer day, January 1. "Well, on that day actually, I figured out what the hell was going on with Lost," Abrams responded. "Frankly, before that we were just winging it — you know, we'd write a script, throw a machete and a monster in it, maybe a make-out scene, and go cash our checks."

Colbert continued: "Now, I also understand that you're the producer of the new 'Star Trek' movie, which is rumored to be a prequel to the Original Series."

Abrams: "Yeah, we're looking forward to that." (It sounds like an off-the-cuff confirmation of that rumor — which it may be — but keep in mind that bits like these are scripted, or semi-scripted at least, by the show's writers, as in the recent involvement of Leonard Nimoy and George Takei in The Daily Show.)

Colbert: "Well, on my prayer day, I hope the tens of thousands of people praying for me ask that you realize that I would make the perfect Dr. McCoy. Check this out..." Colbert waved his pen back and forth like a medical scanner and made the sound effect with his voice. He then looked dramatically into camera and uttered, "He's dead, Jim. Waddaya think?"

Abrams: "Yeah, um — I, uh, I'll pray on it."

A video clip of the entire bit, about four-and-a-half minutes long, can be found at this ComedyCentral.com link (two browser windows will open up).

Later in the show Colbert said he was still nervous about his "prayer day" so he wanted to talk to someone else on the list, and brought on Boston Legal's Candice Bergen by phone. Asked if she's experienced any miracles, one of her responses was, "Yesterday at lunch Bill Shatner picked up the check — that qualifies as a miracle!" That two-minute clip can be found at this ComedyCentral.com link.

Other Videos to Watch: Nichols, Spinrad

While you're in online-video-watching mode, there are a couple more to check out. One features Nichelle Nichols in a new music video from her upcoming movie "Lady Magdalene's." Nichols performs a song called "Rahab the Harlot" composed by the movie's writer/director J. Neil Schulman. Go to LadyMagdalenes.com and click on "Music Videos." "Magdalene's" will be entering film festivals throughout this year in hopes of gaining theatrical distribution before going to DVD and cable.

With the recent syndicated release of the remastered "The Doomsday Machine," the episode's writer Norman Spinrad shot a video blog recounting his experience on the Original Series, along with comments on the remastered version. "When I saw the rough cut of the Doomsday Machine, which I otherwise liked ... I said to Gene [Roddenberry], "What happened? ... It looks like a windsock dipped in cement! ... He said, 'Well, it is a windsock dipped in cement — we ran out of money, and that's the best we can do," Spinrad recalls. He touted the way the remastered update was handled, but commented, "You will also see a Doomsday Machine which to me looks like a slightly more sophisticated windsock dipped in cement!" View the video blog at this YouTube link.

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TiVo Alerts: Bakula, "Trek Tech," Grey, Coto, Mulgrew
Showbiz Briefs: Grammer, Kellerman, Silverman, Moore, MacFarlane
More Awards Results: VES, Grammys
In the Movies: Madsen, Fletcher, Hatcher, Cromwell
Obits: Ball, Kleiman